Paradise 2 Pavement

[volcomsurfer]

Update #12 Vermillion Cliffs, North Rim of Grand Canyon, Overland Expo

So I left off in Kanab with a permit for the lower coyote buttes so off I went back towards House Rock Valley road. I think it's BLM 700 off the top of my head. I went back to the campsite that I found with the bike in the previous post.

My first time seeing a gigantic raft. These are the ones they take down the colorado river through the grand canyon.

house rock valley road

So these are the pics from the coyote buttes south area. The road back there was some quite deep soft sand, but wasn't too bad. A storm started to roll in after I was pretty far out so I decided to turn around early and head back to camp before it caught up to me. There's one thing you learn from living in Florida, don't fk with lightning.

 

[volcomsurfer]

I started to really like uprooted tree pictures. So I've been kind of seeking those out.

After that I went back to the campsite for the night.

The next morning I woke up and kept going south on house rock valley into Arizona. It meets up with hwy 89A. I proceeded to go east and planned to do a loop around the vermillion cliffs area, then back towards the Paria area, back down house rock valley to 89A again, then towards the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I had time to kill so I figured take it slow and enjoy it. I really enjoyed the whole area, substantially more than Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP. There was a time where I didn't see a soul for 6 days which was awesome. So this is heading towards 89A

On 89A looking at the vermillion cliffs.

Heading into cliff dwellers

So I thought cliff dwellers was going to be like the towns carved into the sides of the cliffs, but that wasn't the case. I ended up checking out the Navajo bridge then heading into Glenn Canyon rec area.

 

[volcomsurfer]

Colorado river...

Heading into Glenn Canyon rec area

OMG I found a beach!!! I was so stoked. I couldn't grab my chair and beer fast enough. So I spent the rest of the afternoon right there and ponied up the cash for a campsite at the rec area.

The next morning I woke up early and went on a hike on Spencer trail. It was a cool little 1,500 ft elevation rise to the top to check out the river on both sides. So Spencer trail is a trail that this guy used to haul coal by mule down to his paddle wheel steamer to run his sluice pumps. The trail was developed when Spencer goaded his mule up the cliffs, where ever the mule went is the route he used. It was a pretty challenging hike, but pretty fun. The views at the top were amazing, besides the huge power plant eyesore at page.

You can see the reminisce of Spencers' boat from this point.

This is what parts of the trail looked like.

Made it to the top just as the sun was cresting over the edge. Perfect timing.

 

[volcomsurfer]

towards page

You can kind of see the parking lot where the van is in the middle.

After the hike I went back to the beach for a bit. The hike went to here...

People leaving for their GC raft trip

The water was so cold, but it felt so good after that hike.

After I chilled out on the beach for a bit I headed towards page.

Made a stop at the horseshoe bend. It was super crowded and kind of a tourist trap, but the pics were worth it.

Stopped at the Dam for some damn pictures..

 

[volcomsurfer]

I stopped in Big Water to get an idea of what there's to do in the area and was directed to check out lone rock in lake powell. OMFG exactly what I was looking for! It was a bit windy so i had the place almost to myself.

Just kind of hung out all afternoon and made a gameplan for the next day. I really wanted to ride some of these hill climbs. It's a bit hard to see but they were pretty steep and technical.

It was nice to just relax for a bit and the colors kept getting more and more vivid as the sun set.

The next morning was gorgeous and so rolled in all the people.

#vanlife

I did a little SUP around the rock and back, then a bunch of buses showed up and busted out 100 kayaks.

cooked up some dinner and passed out.

The next day was even nicer and more and more people showed up. I paddled out to the marina and back which was a pretty decent paddle. When I came back I met a couple with an airstream that showed up with a couple dogs. We hung out a bit during the day and became quite good friends. We'll eventually link up a few more times down the road.

Put the awning up for the day.

So after having the place by myself for a few days, everyone and their mother started showing up.

Okay buddy, that's a bit fking ridiculous. It must have been his first time because he broke out soooo much stuff that was so unnecessary. It was too late to break down my camp and leave so I just dealt with it for a night and bailed early AM.

I went to page to steal some internet and restock my stuff.

 

[volcomsurfer]

It was late and I didn't feel like finding a spot so I just went to Walmart. These people proceeded to have a bonfire in the parking lot of walmart :arizona: that's why Walmart's aren't letting people stay anymore.

The next day I went to Water Canyon for a little slot canyon hike.

I got to this point and Tigua didn't want anything to do with it, so we turned around.

After that short hike I drove up cottonwood canyon road to check out some sights.

This poor guy had a tree around his neck so I stopped to try and help. He wouldn't let me get near, but I spooked him enough for him to shake it off.

Took a little walk into some canyon along the road.

 

[volcomsurfer]

I headed back to my favorite campsite for the night because it was the 14th and I could go to the north rim in the morning.

So the next morning I went to the north rim.

Picked up a few hitchhikers that were just getting done the rim to rim hike and dropped them off at the lodge.

The lodge was REALLY nice!

This is the view out the window.

I wanted to get the tourist thing out of the way because everyone had the same idea and went on opening day. So these are all the pics of lookout points on the drive to cape royal point.

I went out to the national forest area right outside of the rim.

I got to this point and couldn't get passed the tree so I back tracked a bit to saddle point to camp for the night.

The campsite, free and not a soul in sight.

 

[volcomsurfer]

The next morning I went on the hike right at my camp. It was a pretty strenuous up down up down up down hike.

After the hike I went over to the west side of 89 down into 22 and went to north timp point to camp for a couple days and wait for overland expo. The weather didn't look friendly.

The campsite gods have blessed me with a stock full of wood at the site already.

It started raining/snowing so I headed to flagstaff early to wait for the expo.

On the way to flag

 

[volcomsurfer]

Overland expo 2016, mormon lake, az

 

[volcomsurfer]

This guys been to 36 countries on this thing..

Now I kinda want a bike. Didn't think to do that.

electric bike he's going to take down the panam in july

So it was super windy, some 40-50 mph gusts at times. Us van people need to stick together so we made a little blockade to help.

Back to flag for a few days.

Passed some family making tacos out of their garage so I had to try that out.. It was awesome.

That's it for now. Gonna stick around flagstaff for a bit then head to the south rim for a bit, before going to phoenix.

 

[SDSteve]

,Awesome updates! Thanks!

 

[chet6.7]

Great update.

 

[Stoked]

I just went through this whole thread, then high-tailed it over to Craigslist to look for a van! Love the scenery and I'm jealous!

 

[colierar]

Great Updates. Keep it up! Cool pictures of Expo. Something about the Marine in me really likes that H1.

 

[bugeyetex]

Just read through your whole thread and am totally jealous. Great photos from that phone you have. I absolutely love the canyon lands in that neck of the woods. Its been years since I've been there, but I can't wait to go back.

Do yourself a favor and stop in Bellingham, WA on your way up to the border. There is a great little bar called the Green Frog Cafe that is (last time I was there) dog friendly, live music every night (bluegrass most of the time), and an outstanding beer selection. They don't even carry the usuals (bud, bud light, coors, etc.). There is also tons of cool places that you can find to camp out for free.

Now, off to find a van big enough for the wife and I and our 2 daughters. Maybe the dogs too. Should I just buy a bus?